Murphy: Let's recognize true heroes

I got an e-mail today from some friends in Oregon - an update on the health status of a courageous former patient appropriately named Grace.

A brilliant violinist who once played with the Savannah Symphony, Grace acquired hepatitis C as a result of a blood transfusion that she received after an emergency appendectomy when she was a child. She's had three liver transplants and numerous infectious complications, and has spent the better part of this year in the hospital.

No one would blame Grace if she were bitter; her health has consumed much of her spare time over the last 15 years. But Grace has a strong and indelible faith, and her outlook has always been positive. Her husband Mike said in the e-mail that Grace was "so looking forward to vitality."

After reading that e-mail, I clicked through the news online. There were people in Cleveland burning NBA star LeBron "King" James's jersey for going to the Miami Heat for roughly $100 million over five years. Another article criticized teen singer Miley Cyrus's "changed image."

Both Mr. James and Ms. Cyrus were all over the news this month.

"Miley is my hero," said one quoted teen. "People need to leave her alone."

"King James needs to do what's right for him," said a Heat fan. "He's making a heroic move to come here."

And right there, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with America.

We glorify our entertainers. We buy their music and watch their movies and buy tickets to their games because they amuse us, because they distract us from the crushing repetition of everyday life. And they get paid millions for providing that entertainment. People call them heroes.

But these people are not heroes. They distract us from what true heroism is.

Heroism is taking a risk with no expectation of reward. Many of our soldiers meet this definition of heroism - people like Richmond Hill's Capt. Matthew Freeman, who sacrificed his life in Afghanistan to protect the freedoms we all enjoy.

There is also the quiet heroism of perseverance, the maintenance of a positive outlook in the face of enormous adversity. My former patient Grace would give anything for her illness to simply leave her alone.

The mundane details of everyday life that we all take for granted are a blessed indulgence to her. It would be easy for Grace to wallow in self-pity, but she refuses to do so. Grace is a dedicated wife and mother who will not let a life-threatening illness deplete her spirit. We could all learn something from her example.

Modern politics could use a few heroes. Many of our nation's most courageous men and women have been in politics. Our nation's founders fought for our country's independence with the knowledge that they would be hanged as traitors if they lost. But today's Washington, D.C., is a desert of heroism.

Congressmen send our young men and women into battle in the Middle East while they squabble over the petty vagaries of party politics. Jefferson, Washington, Franklin and Adams would be appalled at the nest of vipers that the District of Columbia has become. Honor, altruism and self-sacrifice have evaporated as virtues; money, power and influence now motivate most of our political figures.

That's a sad statement about the transformation of our national value system. Over the last few decades, the American Dream has mutated into a preoccupation with hedonistic excess. We glorify those who represent that excessive lifestyle and elect politicians who we think can help us get the things we want. And that's not right.

America has historically been a land of opportunity - a place where a person who is honest and hard-working can realize their dreams no matter what their socioeconomic background. But our selfish preoccupation with material gain has cast us adrift from those things that made our country great.

We no longer recognize the importance of the journey itself - the inherent value of honesty or the intrinsic worth of simply doing a job well. The most essential values in life have very little to do with getting the next i-whatever or with which movie superstar is vacationing with whom.

We need to re-order our national priorities. It's time we learned who our true heroes are. Let's recognize those people who serve others first. Let's elect politicians guided by right instead of by might, politicians who understand the meaning of the phrase "public servant."

And let's say a prayer or two for people like Grace, who manifest heroism in the most beautiful and unassuming of ways.